Pulse

Chapter One

"We have no choice."

"Saying we have no choice implies that we are powerless to decide our own fate."

"At this point, it's been fairly well decided for us."

"We're still in full control of the situation."

"You really should invite me to visit more often, living in such a pleasant fantasy."

"You think we're not?"

"I think the humans are unpredictable when their primal fears are triggered."

"We're prepared for every end."

"I'd like that in writing."

"You can have it signed in blood."

"I'm missing the old days already."

-#-#-

I was never one to watch television. NFL games, sure. Late night comedy shows, definitely. But prime time shows and newscasters with overly practiced smiles just didn't hold my attention. Mostly because if they ever did, it was easy for me to get overwhelmed.

We'll blame that on what I call my overactive imagination.

There weren't many exceptions to my policy of taking 'no news is good news' literally. Watching some of the debates before Presidential elections is about it, but most news stories - with their violence and rushes to judgment - were strictly on my 'never, ever watch' list. I discovered the hard way that it was for the best.

Which is why I thought my co-workers were trying to play a trick on me the day after the vampires announced they were real.

I'd had the day off of work when the mass broadcast happened. My grandfather was already in bed, and I had the phones in the house all switched to silent or directly to voicemail so nothing woke him up. Allison, his nurse, had gone home after I'd finished my errands and told her I planned to spend the rest of the night at home. And since I enjoy the moments of quiet, just me and my thoughts, I didn't check my text messages either.

I had nearly thirty of them waiting for me when I woke up to get ready for my afternoon shift the next day, all saying some variation of Ash- where are you? TV! news!!!! I was almost curious enough to turn the television on, until realizing most of them also included the words "real vampires". My group text in reply said, Haha guys. Lame. Wait until Halloween.

The thirty minute drive between Spring Creek, where I lived, and the city of Elko, NV, where I worked as a bartender for one of the casinos took a little longer than normal. The churches along the route must have been having raffles or some sort of function, though, because the parking lots were almost as full as I'd seen them for Christmas and Easter. Traffic in Elko itself was fairly light, but there were a lot of police cars with lights flashing along my route. I pulled up to check my badge with security, parked in my designated spot on the second floor in the employee garage, triple checked that I locked my doors behind me, and took the elevator to the floor of the casino where the lounge was located.

It was busier than usual for a late Tuesday afternoon. People littered the main walkway, some keeping themselves company while most talked animatedly to anyone around them willing to listen. There weren't any games playing that would have explained the crowd, and unless the one from the night beforehand had been supremely disappointing, I couldn't imagine the fuss being over sports drama.

When I heard the word 'vampire' mentioned more than a dozen times in the fifty feet it took me to get to where the bar was - which was even more crowded than the seating area out in the hall - I wondered just how far my friends' joke had gone.